GIBCO® Rat Fetal Neural Stem Cells can be expanded in StemPro® NSC SFM media up to three passages without differentiation, with more than 75% of rat fetal NSCs retaining their undifferentiated phenotype. (Figure 2)

Figure 2. Fluorescence images (20X) of rat fetal NSCs at P3 cultured in StemPro® NSC SFM for 10 days and then stained for the appropriate phenotypic marker. Nuclei were stained with DAPI (blue) in all images. While approximately (A) 90% of the cells stain positive for the undifferentiated NSC marker Nestin, less than 10% of the cells are positive for differentiated cell type markers (B) Dcx (<5%), (C) GalC (<5%), and (D) GFAP (<8%).

After proliferating the rat fetal NSCs, the cells were expanded from 2 x 106 cells to 300 x 106 cells and then differentiated into multipotent lineages. Rat fetal NSCs spontaneously differentiate into neurons, oligodendrocytes, or astrocytes upon withdrawal of bFGF from culture media. The images below show the differentiation potential of GIBCO® Rat Fetal NSCs cultured up to P3 in StemPro® NSC SFM (Figure 3).